Ttaken from the bestseller by Arnaldur Indriðason, Operation Napoleon (at 9.20pm on Rai 2) is a thriller full of suspense and action set in Iceland. Protagonist is a woman lawyer who gets drawn into an international conspiracy after the discovery of the wreck of a German military planedating back to Second World War.
Operation Napoleon on Rai 2: plot of the film on TV today 12 December
The film has for protagonist Kristín (Vivian Ólafsdóttir)an accomplished lawyer whose life comes shocked by an unexpected phone call from her brother Elias (Atli Óskar Fjalarsson). The boy, exploring the Icelandic Vatnajökull glacier together with his friend Steve (Jack Fox), in fact he found a German military plane dating back to the Second World War, trapped in ice for decades. Inside lie two perfectly preserved bodiesi: a German officer and, surprisingly, an American soldier.
What shocks Kristín, however, is not only her brother’s revelation but her own suddenly ending up under accusation for a murder he didn’t commit and which is intertwined with the discovery of the plane. The mysterious aircraft, however, guards a secret that could exonerate her. Soon, the woman realizes that she is finished at the center of a network of power that intertwines governments, secret services and military interests ready to do anything to keep silence about that truth buried in the ice.
Determined to find out what is hidden behind the file classified as “Operation Napoleon”Kristín undertakes a long and risky journey through hostile landscapes and international intrigue. Pushing ourselves deeper and deeper into a conspiracy that threatens his life. However, there is much more at stake than simple moral rehabilitation: there is the revelation of a truth capable of changing the course of history.
Vivian Ólafsdóttir in a scene from “Operation Napoleon”. (Saga Film)
The ending of Napoleon. The cast
Thriller that combines geopolitics, mysteries and introspection, Operation Napoleon is the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Icelandic Arnaldur Indriðasonpublished in 1999 and became a bestseller international. Between cold and dark atmospheres, which enhance the Icelandic setting, the film focuses on dry realism, avoiding spectacular excesses in favor of a more sober tone.
The heart of the film is its protagonista woman unwillingly involved in a plot that exceeds her possibilities and which the actress Vivian Ólafsdóttir plays with intelligence and sensitivity. The portrait of the secondary characters is less incisive, often reduced to narrative functions. Furthermore, the plot, although intriguing, often turns out to be cumbersome while some action sequences are well constructed, others are more conventional and predictable.
The photography, however, is very well donewhich uses snowy landscapes to create a constant sense of isolation and danger. Overall therefore, Operation Napoleon And a solid thriller, certainly not “revolutionary” but capable of entertaining thanks to the original setting and a successful balance between investigation and action. And the ending, very successful and shocking, lays the foundations for a hypothetical sequel.
Operation Napoleon Is it inspired by a true story?
While giving the impression of being based on true eventssuch as the Nazi occupation of Denmark or German plans to expand control as far as Iceland, OP remains largely the fruit of the imagination of the writer Arnaldur Indriðasonauthor of the novel from which the work is based.
Although the film uses “authentic” contexts so, the idea of the discovery of a German aircraft buried in the ice is a narrative creation. From a historical point of view, Iceland remained tied to Denmark until the German occupation of 1940, an event that prompted the United Kingdom to intervene militarily to prevent the island from falling into the hands of Germany.
Despite declaring themselves neutral, the Icelandic population suffered losses due to German submarines and mines scattered in the Atlantic. Operation Ikaruswhich it should have bring in the Nazi troops on the island, it was finally shelved due to insufficient air coverage and the clear British naval superiority.